SAN DIEGO  SAN DIEGO — After leaving his fingerprints on a dominating, 31-0 smackdown of a team that was dressed a lot like the first-place Kansas City Chiefs, Philip Rivers added contect by taking dead aim at one of the most repeated themes in all of sports.

"We've got to win out," Rivers, the San Diego Chargers quarterback, said on his way out of Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday. "It is still one game at a time, but I think we understand that we've got to win the rest of them to have a chance."

Do they ever understand. Two years ago, the Chargers won the AFC West with an 8-8 record despite entering the final month of the season at 4-8. In 2007, they were 5-5 and ripped off consecutive victories to claim the division crown. Last year? They stumbled early, starting 2-3, then won 11 in a row.

To win a fifth consecutive A-West flag, it will take another comeback.

"We've done it before," said defensive end Luis Castillo, "but nothing is automatic."

The Chargers (7-6), took a huge step in trying to repeat their knack for mad dashes to the playoffs, in dismantling the Chiefs (8-5) to pull to within a game of the lead.

Kansas City was without quarterback Matt Cassel, who underwent an appendectomy on Wednesday. But this was not a one-man collapse. The Chiefs managed just five first downs and 67 yards — in both cases, the second-fewest in a game in franchise history.

"The guys are devastated right now," Chiefs coach Todd Haley said afterward.

Rather than make a statement of valiudation that would have essentially wrapped up the division crown, the Chiefs came out flat. Emergency quarterback Brodie Croyle (40 passing yards, four sacks) provided no spark, but neither did a No. 1-ranked rushing attack that managed 2.8 yards per rush, or a defense that gave up 207 rushing yards.

"Panic is too strong a word," linebacker Derrick Johnson said of the team's mind-set. "But there's a sense of urgency. If we start winning again, this game won't mean as much."

For the Chargers, though, it meant the season. And they played like it, building a 21-0 halftime lead and cruising to their most decisive victory of the season. While the defense didn't allow a single third-down conversion (0-for-11) and allowed the second-fewest yards in franchise history, the Rivers-led offense converted 11-of-15 third downs, logged more than 40 minutes of possession time and amassed 426 yards.

"In a lot of ways, we won in a similar fashion in Indy," Rivers, who passed for 226 yards and two TDs, said of the 36-14 victory at Indianapolis two weeks earlier. "We had control. And then we came back the very next week and lost at home to Oakland. This game, we have something to be excited about, but we've got to put it asidxe in a hurry. It's not going to carry into the next week. We've got to regroup."

The Chargers have a short week, hosting the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday. They have to wonder where games like Sunday have been all season.

"That's this league," Rivers said. "It's been our story this season — up and down, can't get it all together. But that's the NFL. It's week to week, you've got to bring it. The teams that can bring it most consistently are sitting at 11-2 right now. The teams that have been up and down are 7-6 like we are. The best thing about it is that we are still alive."

The setback a week earlier to Oakland, though, cost the Chargers the ability to control their own destiny. Next weekend, they can watch the scoreboard and see how the Chiefs fare at St. Louis.

"You learn quickly in this league not to spend too much time looking back," Castillo said, reminded of the loss to Oakland as he gathered belongings from his locker. "But you remember everything."

Including their history for impressive stretch runs.

"It gives you confidence when you look around this locker room and see guys who have been here before, who can play at a high level when the pressure's on," Castillo said. "That always gives you a chance."

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